Letters: Liberal thinkers deceive themselves

Money to fund war seems endless
Amazing. The Obama administration has deep pockets when it came to bailouts. And pockets just as deep for proposed health care reform. But, when it comes to sending troops to win a war and protect the U.S., money is not endless. How come?
--PAUL D. PELOQUIN
--Chicopee

Keepers of minutes have daunting task
In response to the article “Official in Palmer quits, citing idiocy,’ “ I would like to address Ramon Dole’s frustrations. Only someone such as myself, who has taken minutes at many board meetings in various work environments, can truly understand how dificult this job can be.

Dole was criticized for not stating who was making statements at the Town Council meetings, and was also criticized, at times, for giving too much or not enough detail. Out of curiosity in the past, I have read many articles about the taking of minutes at meetings and learned a few golden rules.

The first is that is it unnecessary and sometimes illegal to note who said what at a meeting. Also, the old saying, “less is more” describes what most meeting minutes should look like. Any minutes on the discussion of an agenda topic should be brief – the action item/outcome of the discussion is what should be captured in the minutes and is what is truly important.

This is an extremely challenging job which requires the constant, undivided attention of the notetaker. But unfortunately, many times the discussion may center around a topic that the minute-taker is unfamiliar with, making it extremely hard to grasp the discussion and to report on it in an accurate manner. My hat is off to all of us out there who do our best to be the “eyes and ears” of these important meetings.
--ANN FARRINGTON
--Belchertown

Liberal thinkers deceive themselves
So most of the worthwhile initiatives have been crafted by liberal leaders? Have the writers of these recent letters provided specifics on these initiatives? So far, we read that these initiatives are health care, economic justice and environmental issues –and that opponents use fear and deception to block these initiatives.

Is the health care initiative only for the uninsured? What about those of us who aleady have insurance? Talk about deception. Of course we all will be affected when we are forced into the public option when insurance companies are devastated by the “competition.”

And that’s just for starters. How about a stiff penalty for those who opt to forego any insurance at all? How does forcing the issue ensure quality care or affordable care? Is the economic justice initiative the same one that allowed sub-prime mortgages to tank the housing market? One should note that the framework for these mortgages is still in place.

As for the environment, is this the initiative that calls for a “bill to cut global warming or face droughts, floods, fires and increased air pollution?”

This is Sen. Barbara Boxer’s “worthwhile” initiative. Fear? Deception? You make the call.
--CAMILLE CASTRO
--Chicopee

Never-ending wars unfair to military
The latest great debate in Washington is how to “win” the interminable eight-year war America chose to fight in Afghanistan.

President Obama has called it a “good war” and it appears he will choose to continue to fight it. We hear the same pontificating puffery and military hubris from the politicians and generals regarding Afghanistan that we heard for years regarding the endless war they chose to fight in Iraq.

But, no matter how they parse the rhetoric, in Afghanistan and Iraq there is nothing for America to “win.” The Afghans and Iraqis have internal problems which do not involve us, do not relate to our vital interest, and are beyond our ability to solve. The Taliban pose no threat to us.

Al Qaida, in particular, and terrorism, in general, are police matters, not military matters. Al Qaida, denied safe haven in one place, will simply move on to another. Endlessly pursuing al Qaida with military invasions is neither possible nor justifiable.

It does not matter how President Barack Obama and the politicians in Washington rationalize the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It does not matter how bravely our young men and women risk their lives or how hard they struggle to carry out their impossible military mission.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq remain never-ending wars of choice that America did not, and does not, have to fight. There is no such thing as a “good war.”
--PHILIP B. FREGEAU
--Longmeadow